Forget the minor stock market problems; where's the bee? - from GTBP.org

I was sitting in my apple orchard with my neighbor Asher this week.  Asher is a retired banker, a Philadelphia Eagles fan, and my beer drinking pal.   He was a bit nervous and depressed and it has nothing to do with the liquidity crunch or the upcoming football season.  He wants to know what happened to the bees.

Typically, in August, you cannot sit in the apple orchard due to the bees.  But there is not one bee in site.  It is scary problem.  One third of all the food we consume is dependant on bee pollination.  A third!  I thought back to hearing something about a year ago about the loss of honey bees.  I think I saw something about it from Häagen-Dazs®.  I remember saying ‘huh, I hope they figure that out.'  But it didn't hit me till sitting in the apple orchard this past week.  Where are the bees?  Who and what is responsible? 

I then pulled out my new 3G iPhone and Googled ‘Where are all the bees'.  I found out that I am not the only one wondering this.  From Seattle to Florida to Newfoundland; The bees have left the continent.  Well if the bees are on strike, who is going to pollinate my apple trees?  Asher is a good neighbor and helps me chop wood all spring but I don't see him working the trees with a Q-Tip next spring.  Then I was wondering what other foods are going to be affected.  Here is a list I found on another site:

1 Seeds

Scientists are working hard to figure out the problem.  Is it pesticide, disease, or parasites?  The term that they are using is Colony Collapse Disorder.  Which essential means that the bees left the colony, never came back, and we don't know why.  There was a congressional hearing back in March where the bee budget was increased from $8MM to $16MM. 

Is this a serious problem?  Are we going to realize it in 2009?  What are the risks?  Better yet, what is the opportunity?  Your comments are welcome.

Read more at:

http://GTBP.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/bees.asp?gclid=CL3p5vXcg5UCFQpjnAodvAyEqQ

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/